Cooking With Booze: Grand Marnier French Toast

Master the ultimate morning-after breakfast.

Before we ever met, Emily always said that breakfast was the first meal men really learn how to perfect, because sex. Kyle proved that theory correct, by making a similar version of this Grand Marnier French Toast early in our relationship.

Even if your motives are much more altruistic, or at least not so transparent—say, you want to sneak a little booze into your family’s Easter brunch—you’ll have fun making this booze-spiked banana bread French toast.

Our simple, five-ingredient egg custard gets a shot of Grand Marnier. The orange-flavored liqueur adds a hint of citrus to the dish and forces you to buy a bottle of Grand Marnier. Since you’ll be at the liquor store, you might as well pick up a bottle of champagne or prosecco, and while you work to make the brunch, you can put your lady in charge of a couple mimosas for you both to enjoy. This will help ease you out of a hangover, if necessary, or ease you back into bed once brunch is over, if you play your cards right.

To form the custard, whisk together the eggs, cream, Grand Marnier, cinnamon, and salt until well incorporated.

Add the sliced banana bread to the the custard, and leave submerged for about 10 minutes, flipping the slices over every few minutes to ensure even soaking.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375º and warm a skillet over medium-low heat. Melt a generous pat of butter in the skillet, then add the slices of bread, cooking each side for about 5 minutes or until the bread has been browned. Then, place the slices on a baking sheet and cook, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes.